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Pojman ethics 8e_ppt_ch12
- 2. Chapter Twelve: Religion
and Ethics
A Church of England bishop said recent floods were
God’s judgment for society’s moral corruption and
environmental irresponsibility.
Historically, morality has been linked with religion.
To act immorally is to disobey God.
Religion has so dominated the moral landscape that it is
indistinguishable from morality.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 3. Religion and Ethics (1 of 2)
Most people identify morality with religion.
Exceptions:
Confucianism in China is a secular system.
Nontheist versions of Buddhism exist.
Greek philosophers contemplated morality independent of
religion.
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- 4. Religion and Ethics (2 of 2)
Does morality depend on religion?
Is religion irrelevant or even contrary to morality?
Does religion enhance the moral life?
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- 5. Does Morality Depend on
Religion?
Do moral standards depend on God for their validity or
is there an independence of ethics, so even God is
subject to the moral order?
Does God command the good because it is good or is the
good only good because God commands it?
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 6. The Divine Command Theory
Ethical principles are simply the commands of God.
They derive their validity from God commanding them.
Without God, there would be no universally valid
morality.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 7. Three Theses of the
Divine Command Theory
Morality originates with God.
Moral rightness simply means “willed by God,” and
moral wrongness means “being against the will of God.”
Because morality is based on divine will, not on
independently existing reasons for action, no further
reasons for action are necessary.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 8. Four Propositions of the
Divine Command Theory
Act A is wrong if and only if it is contrary to the
command of God.
Act A is right (required) if and only if it is commanded
by God.
Act A is morally permissible if and only if it is
permissible by the command of God.
If there is no God, then nothing is ethically wrong,
required, or permitted.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 9. The Independence Thesis
The independence thesis is opposed to the divine
command theory and claims:
Morality does not originate with God.
Rightness and wrongness are not based simply on God’s
will.
There are reasons for acting one way or the other, which
may be known independent of God’s will.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 10. Problems with the Divine
Command Theory
It seems to make the attribution of “goodness” to God
redundant.
It seems to make morality into something arbitrary.
If there are no constraints on what God can command,
then anything can become a moral duty.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 11. Kant: God Makes Morality
Possible
Kant held firmly to the independence thesis.
Kant claimed that both humans and God must obey the
same rational principles.
Religion completes morality by directly linking it with
the immortality of the soul and God’s existence.
Moral law commands us to be morally perfect, and
therefore, we must be able to reach moral perfection,
but not in this life.
Kant says there must be a God, acting as judge and
enforcer of the moral law, without which the moral law
would be unjustified.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 12. Is Religion Irrelevant or Even
Contrary to Morality?
Secularists want to disentangle the relationship
between religion and morality.
Some argue that religion is irrelevant to morality.
Others espouse that religion is actually contrary to true
morality.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 13. Russell: Religion
Irrelevant to Morality
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said religion made no
useful contributions to civilization and caused
incalculable suffering.
Morality has no need of God.
Life has the meaning we give it, and morality is part of
any meaningful life.
Criticism: George Mavrodes says Russell’s secular
morality is superficial and can’t answer the question:
“Why should I be moral?”
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 14. Hume: The Immorality
of God and Religion
David Hume (1711–1776) stated problems with
connecting religion and morality.
Religions depict God as an immoral tyrant who acts out of
vengeance, severity, cruelty, and malice.
Religious practices are typically contrary to morality.
To be moral, I must reduce my religious superstition and
fanaticism.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 15. Dawkins: The Immorality
of God and Religion
Richard Dawkins argued that religion promotes
immorality.
Religion has justified many types of conduct that, in more
enlightened times, we recognize as immoral.
Religion gives people a misguided loyalty toward members
of their own in-group and fosters suspicion and hostility
toward outsiders.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 16. Nowell-Smith and Rachels:
Religion Conflicts with Moral
Autonomy
Many secular philosophers argued that religion gives rise
to an inferior morality.
P.H. Nowell-Smith: Religious morality, in being rule-
governed, is like children not understanding the wider
purposes of the rules of games.
James Rachels: Believers relinquish their autonomy in
worship and so are immoral.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 17. Does Religion Enhance the
Moral Life?
The case for morality’s dependence on religion is weak.
The secularist’s case for the view that true morality is
incompatible with religion is also weak.
Both claims are extreme and defy conclusive proof.
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- 18. The Case for Religion (1 of 2)
If there is a God, good will win out over evil.
If God exists, then cosmic justice reigns in the universe.
If theism is true, moral reasons always override
nonmoral reasons.
If theism is true, then there is a God who loves and
cares for us—his love inspires us.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 19. The Case for Religion (2 of 2)
If there is a God who created us in his image, all
persons are of equal worth.
If God exists, we have a compelling solution to the
posterity problem.
Theism doesn’t deprive us of our autonomy; the world
of the theist may be more satisfying; and through
revelation, the theist can access deeper moral truths.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 20. The Case Against Religion
A lot of evil has been done by religious people in the
name of religion.
We don’t know for sure whether a benevolent God
exists.
Religious morality closes off dialogue.
Religious morality leads to group intolerance.
Religious morality threatens church-state separation.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
- 21. Conclusion
Does morality depend on religion?
The independence thesis is correct.
God, if he exists, loves the good because of its intrinsic
value.
Morality has independent value so that moral truth exists
whether or not God does.
Religion can enhance the moral life by providing
motivating reasons to be moral.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
